Hi, My name is Kelley and I’m here to tell you that its okay if you hate your due date.

You went to the Doctor or Midwife for your first visit as a PREGNANT LADY(!!!) and they likely pulled out a little paper circle and then gave you a magical date. A date that felt impossibly far away and incredibly close at the same time. The magic day you would meet your baby.

Then all of pregnancy happened- the first picture you took of your “bump” that was really just bloat, the waking up to pee ten thousand times a night because your now obvious bump is squashing your bladder, and the “I wonder if I will ever not be pregnant..” has crossed your mind more than a few times.

Leading up to THE DAY you have done all the things the internet and the books and your friends have told you to- maybe you hired a doula, made freezer meals, cleaned the whole house, set up a nursery, installed a carseat – or maybe you have just thought about doing those things but they fell to the wayside because Netflix/ice cream/ the couch.

Here it is – THE DAY-

It comes and goes without a peep from your little one. You’re wondering what the deal is because you were told this is the day you’ll meet your child, the day when you’ll go from uncomfortable pregnant lady to somebody’s mother…

And nothing happens. In my case, my beautiful and wonderful sister in law went into labor and had my nephew three weeks early on my due date and I was just the uncomfortable pregnant lady a few hundred miles away, sad that I couldn’t be there to meet my nephew. People thought I might be bitter, but I just felt sad like I was missing a huge event in my brother’s life, one that I could potentially help with. I desperately wanted to run (well.. waddle) to the airport and get on a plane.

Our close friends planned vacations, work off, etc around the birth of their son only to have him hop out 5 weeks early, small, but perfect and healthy. It seemed unfair that her husband would have to go back to work for his “busy season” during his son’s first weeks of life when they had planned (and got lucky) to have him born during dad’s down time.

So, the “due date” is nonsense. It really is- look up the statistics (I’m a new mom you can’t expect me to do all the work and insert a link here) and you’ll see that less than 5% of babies are born on their “due date.”

When that day comes and goes, or if it’s a few weeks away and your water breaks, just know that you’re not alone and it’s totally acceptable to hate your due date.